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| “Christ Holds the Cross” by El Greco 1602-07 |
Readings and Commentary:[3]
During the Fifth Week of Lent (especially in
cycles B and C when the Gospel of Lazarus is not read on the Fifth Sunday of
Lent) optional
Mass Texts are offered.
Reading I: Numbers 21:4-9
From Mount Hor the children
of Israel set out on the Red Sea road,
to bypass the land of Edom.
But with their patience worn out by the journey,
the people complained against God and Moses,
“Why have you brought us up
from Egypt to die in this desert,
where there is no food or water?
We are disgusted with this wretched food!”
In punishment the LORD sent among the people
saraph serpents,
which bit the people so that many of them died.
Then the people came to Moses and said,
“We have sinned in complaining against the LORD
and you.
Pray the LORD to take the serpents away from
us.”
So Moses prayed for the people, and the LORD
said to Moses,
“Make a saraph and mount it on a pole,
and whoever looks at it after being bitten will
live.”
Moses accordingly made a bronze serpent and
mounted it on a pole,
and whenever anyone who had been bitten by a
serpent
looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
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Commentary on Nm 21:4-9
The reading from the book of
Numbers recounts another intervention by God along their sojourn in the desert.
God had already provided “manna” which is what the Israelites in this
reading now call “wretched food.” They believed that, because they
offended God with their bitterness and lack of gratitude, they failed to love
God and sinned against him. In punishment, serpents were sent to afflict them.
This event is seen by the Christian
community as an analogy to the later crucifixion of Jesus. “If anyone who
has been bitten looks at it, he will recover," and "As Moses
lifted up the serpent in the desert, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting"
(John 3:14-15). [4]
CCC: Nm
21:4-9 2130
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
R. (2) O Lord, hear my prayer, and
let my cry come to you.
O LORD, hear my prayer,
and let my cry come to you.
Hide not your face from me
in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to
me;
in the day when I call, answer me speedily.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come
to you.
The nations shall revere your name, O LORD,
and all the kings of the earth your glory,
When the LORD has rebuilt Zion
and appeared in his glory;
When he has regarded the prayer of the
destitute,
and not despised their prayer.
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come
to you.
Let this be written for the generation to come,
and let his future creatures praise the LORD:
“The LORD looked down from his holy height,
from heaven he beheld the earth,
To hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those doomed to die.”
R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come
to you.
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Commentary on Ps
102:2-3, 16-18, 19-21
Psalm
102 is an individual lament. In this selection we find the cry of the people in
the desert once more being directed to the Lord. The song proposes a covenant:
If you hear our plea, we will revere your name.
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Gospel: John 8:21-30
Jesus said to the Pharisees:
“I am going away and you will look for me,
but you will die in your sin.
Where I am going you cannot come.”
So the Jews said,
“He is not going to kill himself, is he,
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot
come’?”
He said to them, “You belong to what is below,
I belong to what is above.
You belong to this world,
but I do not belong to this world.
That is why I told you that you will die in your
sins.
For if you do not believe that I AM,
you will die in your sins.”
So they said to him, “Who are you?”
Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the
beginning.
I have much to say about you in condemnation.
But the one who sent me is true,
and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
They did not realize that he was speaking to
them of the Father.
So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man,
then you will realize that I AM,
and that I do nothing on my own,
but I say only what the Father taught me.
The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone,
because I always do what is pleasing to him.”
Because he spoke this way, many came to believe
in him.
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Commentary on Jn
8:21-30
Jesus continues his discourse with
the Pharisees, trying to lead them to understanding. He tells them that he is
going away, clearly implying his own death, and tells them they may not follow
him. Their unbelief is sin and hence they will die in their sin. They do not
understand the manner of his death (that he will lay his life down) but rather
see a partial truth in thinking he will kill himself.
Even though he uses language filled
with specific clues (e.g. the use of the phrase “I Am,” God’s own designation
for himself) they still do not understand. Toward the end he alludes to the
saraph image from Numbers: “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will
realize that I Am,” and at the same time makes it clear whose Son he is.
CCC: Jn 8:28 211,
653, 2812; Jn 8:29 603,
1693, 2824, 2825
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Reflection:
In the Gospel, Jesus is clearly getting a bit
frustrated with the Hebrew leadership for not being able to understand who he
is (even though he uses the Hebrew formula for God: “I AM,” referring to
himself on a couple of occasions). We, his modern day disciples, see the
meaning clearly in his statements and understand he is truly the Son of God.
Frustration and impatience also play a role in
the first reading. This time however, it is the Hebrew people being led
out of Egypt. From a practical standpoint, the reading from Numbers
should speak to us today. How often have we fallen into the role of the
Hebrews in the story about the saraph serpents? How frequently have we
heard ourselves complaining: why did God let that happen? Or, why did God put
me in this situation?
It’s the “blessing and curse” opposition of a
covenant relationship. God made us in his own image and likeness.
In doing so he gave all mankind (the good and the bad) free will. He gave
us the freedom to make choices, good and bad, and placed us in a world full of
people with that same ability. What he did not do was make us slaves to
him as he so easily could have done. That would have been absolutely
necessary if all of our choices in life would lead us to happy outcomes all of
the time.
So, bad things happen. They usually happen
because we make bad decisions and put ourselves in situations where the
outcomes are not positive. They happen because the people around us make
bad decisions, perhaps not for themselves. Look, for example, at executives who
decide they need to reduce labor costs and lay people off so they can make
their profit numbers and get their bonus, so shareholders can make the money
they expect on their investments. For the executive it was a good
decision, for the people who invested their 401k money in the company it was a
good thing. For the worker who no longer has an income, it might seem
that God had dealt them an unfair blow.
Recognizing that there is evil in the world and
that God has given us the ability to choose between good and evil, we must also
look at situations in which we feel frustrated or unjustly treated by God. We
need to ask: who really put us there? God is there for us. He sent his
Son to us to give us hope and peace. We only need to reach out to him, to
believe he is I AM, and we find that salvation and peace.
Pax
[1]
The picture
used is “Christ Holds the Cross” by El Greco 1602-07.
[3]
The
readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm
and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[4]
See NAB
Footnote on Numbers 21: 4ff.
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